Grist » Chris Schultshttp://grist.org
Environmental News, Commentary, AdviceSun, 02 Aug 2015 22:31:09 +0000enhourly1http://wordpress.com/http://1.gravatar.com/blavatar/330e84b0272aae748d059cd70e3f8f8d?s=96&d=http%3A%2F%2Fs2.wp.com%2Fi%2Fbuttonw-com.png » Chris Schultshttp://grist.org
Wikipedia Scanner reveals orgs that edit Wikipedia articleshttp://grist.org/article/dow-chemical-chevrontexaco-and-others-remove-controversial-info-from-wikipe/?utm_source=syndication&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=feed_chrisschults
http://grist.org/article/dow-chemical-chevrontexaco-and-others-remove-controversial-info-from-wikipe/#commentsFri, 17 Aug 2007 06:03:45 +0000http://www.grist.org/?p=18776Ah, Wikipedia. Many of us at Grist frequently use this resource, but we do so knowing that just about anyone can edit a Wikipedia article at anytime. So, can we really trust the information contained within?

Fear not! As Wiredreports, there is a new tool that sheds some light on who is editing what:

On November 17th, 2005, an anonymous Wikipedia user deleted 15 paragraphs from an article on e-voting machine-vendor Diebold, excising an entire section critical of the company's machines. While anonymous, such changes typically leave behind digital fingerprints offering hints about the contributor, such as the location of the computer used to make the edits.

In this case, the changes came from an IP address reserved for the corporate offices of Diebold itself. And it is far from an isolated case. A new data-mining service launched Monday traces millions of Wikipedia entries to their corporate sources, and for the first time puts comprehensive data behind longstanding suspicions of manipulation, which until now have surfaced only piecemeal in investigations of specific allegations.

Wikipedia Scanner -- the brainchild of Cal Tech computation and neural-systems graduate student Virgil Griffith -- offers users a searchable database that ties millions of anonymous Wikipedia edits to organizations where those edits apparently originated, by cross-referencing the edits with data on who owns the associated block of internet IP addresses.

]]>Ah, Wikipedia. Many of us at Grist frequently use this resource, but we do so knowing that just about anyone can edit a Wikipedia article at anytime. So, can we really trust the information contained within?

Fear not! As Wiredreports, there is a new tool that sheds some light on who is editing what:

On November 17th, 2005, an anonymous Wikipedia user deleted 15 paragraphs from an article on e-voting machine-vendor Diebold, excising an entire section critical of the company’s machines. While anonymous, such changes typically leave behind digital fingerprints offering hints about the contributor, such as the location of the computer used to make the edits.

In this case, the changes came from an IP address reserved for the corporate offices of Diebold itself. And it is far from an isolated case. A new data-mining service launched Monday traces millions of Wikipedia entries to their corporate sources, and for the first time puts comprehensive data behind longstanding suspicions of manipulation, which until now have surfaced only piecemeal in investigations of specific allegations.

Wikipedia Scanner — the brainchild of Cal Tech computation and neural-systems graduate student Virgil Griffith — offers users a searchable database that ties millions of anonymous Wikipedia edits to organizations where those edits apparently originated, by cross-referencing the edits with data on who owns the associated block of internet IP addresses.

And you can do your own sleuthing and share your discoveries on a special Wired resource powered by reddit called wikidgame. Here are some of the environment-related edits reported:

There are two hands that can beat a royal flush. Jack Bauer's right hand and Jack Bauer's left hand.

Most people would need months to recover from 20 months of Chinese interrogation. Jack Bauer needs a shower, a shave and a change of clothes.

The city of Los Angeles once named a street after Jack Bauer in gratitude for his saving the city several times. They had to rename it after people kept dying when they tried to cross the street. No one crosses Jack Bauer and lives.

If Jack Bauer had been a Spartan the movie would have been called "1".

Some people see the glass as half full. Others see it as half empty. Jack Bauer see the glass as a deadly weapon.

Yup, Jack is one tough son-of-a-gun, and he and the producers of 24 have pledged to fight climate change and take the following steps to reduce their carbon footprint:

]]>Fans of 24 know that if there’s one person that can stop climate change, it ain’t Al Gore. It’s Jack Bauer.

There are two hands that can beat a royal flush. Jack Bauer’s right hand and Jack Bauer’s left hand.

Most people would need months to recover from 20 months of Chinese interrogation. Jack Bauer needs a shower, a shave and a change of clothes.

The city of Los Angeles once named a street after Jack Bauer in gratitude for his saving the city several times. They had to rename it after people kept dying when they tried to cross the street. No one crosses Jack Bauer and lives.

If Jack Bauer had been a Spartan the movie would have been called “1”.

Some people see the glass as half full. Others see it as half empty. Jack Bauer see the glass as a deadly weapon.

Yup, Jack is one tough son-of-a-gun, and he and the producers of 24 have pledged to fight climate change and take the following steps to reduce their carbon footprint:

Beginning with production on Season 7, “24” intends to implement the following carbon emission reduction techniques and important initiatives:

Introducing the use of biodiesel fuels to power generators and production vehicles;

Previously, the show powered its electric generators and large transportation vehicles with diesel fuel. This season, the show intends to use a combination of petroleum diesel and biodiesel (a clean-burning alternative fuel produced from renewable resources), which should result in emission reductions ranging from 5% on the vehicles to as much as 100% on the generators.

Running all on-stage production activities on “green power”;

Through the L.A. Department of Water and Power, the show will purchase all of its energy from renewable power sources (such as wind, water and solar). As a result, this “green energy” will be brought into the Los Angeles power grid from outlying areas, thereby reducing overall emissions and pollution in greater Los Angeles.

Rewiring an entire stage to use electric, rather than diesel-generated, power;

Previously, one of the two stages housing “24” had insufficient power capacity necessary to light the sets and run the equipment, necessitating the use of supplemental diesel-gas-fueled generators. Twentieth Century Fox Television is investing in rewiring this building, which it leases, so that no diesel generators will be needed this season.

Integrating fuel-saving and low-emission hybrid vehicles into the production fleet;

This season, the show intends to incorporate as many lower-emission vehicles as possible into departments that require considerable road travel, such as Locations, Transportation and Production Assistance.

Creating a series of PSAs about the issue starring Kiefer Sutherland and key cast members;

Kiefer Sutherland has already shot a public service announcement describing “24”‘s commitment to this issue. This season, the series intends to participate in a series of PSAs educating viewers about climate change and offering information about how they can be part of the solution.

When appropriate, incorporating the issue of global warming and the importance of carbon emission reduction into storylines;

Posting information, resources and do-it-yourself techniques for viewers to reduce their own carbon footprints on the “24” page at Fox.com.

Accruing enough carbon reduction savings through these and other innovations to render production of the entire final episode officially “carbon neutral”;

Carbon neutrality refers to a product having a balance of zero between the amount of carbon absorbed and the amount of carbon released into the atmosphere during the production of the product. Carbon neutrality is achieved through energy reduction, green power use, and purchasing “offsets” which represent investment in alternative energy and carbon reduction.

You can read more of the press release here. And you can check out Jack Bauer’s, er, I mean Kiefer Sutherland’s PSA here.

]]>http://grist.org/article/jack-bauer-is-going-to-stop-global-warming/feed/0Making electricity visible helps reduce consumptionhttp://grist.org/article/glowing-orbs-for-everyone/?utm_source=syndication&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=feed_chrisschults
http://grist.org/article/glowing-orbs-for-everyone/#commentsThu, 26 Jul 2007 06:34:00 +0000http://www.grist.org/?p=18400Here's what might be an ingenious idea, as reported by Wired: ]]>Here’s what might be an ingenious idea, as reported by Wired:

Mark Martinez couldn’t get Southern California Edison customers to conserve energy. As the utility’s manager of program development, he had tried alerting them when it was time to dial back electricity use on a hot day — he’d fire off automated phone calls, zap text messages, send emails. No dice.

Then he saw an Ambient Orb. It’s a groovy little ball that changes color in sync with incoming data — growing more purple, for example, as your email inbox fills up or as the chance of rain increases. Martinez realized he could use Orbs to signal changes in electrical rates, programming them to glow green when the grid was underused — and, thus, electricity cheaper — and red during peak hours when customers were paying more for power. He bought 120 of them, handed them out to customers, and sat back to see what would happen.

Within weeks, Orb users reduced their peak-period energy use by 40 percent. Why? Because, Martinez explains, the glowing sphere was less annoying and more persistent than a text alert. “It’s nonintrusive,” he says. “It has a relatively benign effect. But when you suddenly see your ball flashing red, you notice.”

And Clive Thompson, author of the piece, has his own crazy idea:

How about making our energy use visible to everyone? Imagine if your daily consumption were part of your Facebook page — and broadcast to your friends by RSS feed. That would trigger what Ambient Devices CEO David Rose calls the sentinel effect: You’d work harder to conserve so you don’t look like a jackass in front of your peers.

OK, so they're not rock stars. But scientists with the British Antarctic Survey will guarantee Al Gore's promise that the Live Earth concerts on July 7 will be performed on all 7 continents.

They'll be performing during the dead of winter at the Rothera Research Station. In fact, it'll be the first time anyone outside the station has heard the indie rock-folk band, Nunatak, play at all. (Nunatak, by the way, is a Greenlandic word that means an exposed summit of a ridge mountain or peak within an ice field or glacier.)

OK, so they’re not rock stars. But scientists with the British Antarctic Survey will guarantee Al Gore’s promise that the Live Earth concerts on July 7 will be performed on all 7 continents.

They’ll be performing during the dead of winter at the Rothera Research Station. In fact, it’ll be the first time anyone outside the station has heard the indie rock-folk band, Nunatak, play at all. (Nunatak, by the way, is a Greenlandic word that means an exposed summit of a ridge mountain or peak within an ice field or glacier.)

]]>http://grist.org/article/live-earth-this-just-in/feed/0The tiny island nation of Tuvalu is threatened by global warming.http://grist.org/article/tuvalu-we-hardly-knew-you/?utm_source=syndication&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=feed_chrisschults
http://grist.org/article/tuvalu-we-hardly-knew-you/#commentsWed, 13 Jun 2007 03:49:38 +0000http://www.grist.org/?p=17834Possibly one of the most tragic outcomes that may result from climate change is the extinction of an entire nation's culture and homeland. As the United Nations discussed the threat that global warming poses to the security of nations, Afelee Pita, an ambassador from the tiny Pacific island nation of Tuvalu, was there to represent his country.

Tuvalu may be one of the first nations whose way of life could disappear as a result of the actions (or in this case, the lack of action) of other countries. NPR is covering this story as part of their year-long Climate Connections series. Here's a quote from the piece:

"We face many threats associated with climate change," Pita said to the U.N. "Ocean warming is changing the very nature of our island nation. Slowly our coral reefs are dying through coral bleaching. We are witnessing changes to fish stocks. And we face the increasing threat of more severe cyclones. With the highest (land) point of four meters above sea level, the threat of more cyclones is extremely disturbing."

And check out a small Grist slideshow of photos taken by Gary Braasch in 2005.

Update [2007-6-12 13:1:43 by Chris Schults]: NPR also has a related piece about the islands of Fiji.

]]>Possibly one of the most tragic outcomes that may result from climate change is the extinction of an entire nation’s culture and homeland. As the United Nations discussed the threat that global warming poses to the security of nations, Afelee Pita, an ambassador from the tiny Pacific island nation of Tuvalu, was there to represent his country.

Tuvalu may be one of the first nations whose way of life could disappear as a result of the actions (or in this case, the lack of action) of other countries. NPR is covering this story as part of their year-long Climate Connections series. Here’s a quote from the piece:

“We face many threats associated with climate change,” Pita said to the U.N. “Ocean warming is changing the very nature of our island nation. Slowly our coral reefs are dying through coral bleaching. We are witnessing changes to fish stocks. And we face the increasing threat of more severe cyclones. With the highest (land) point of four meters above sea level, the threat of more cyclones is extremely disturbing.”

And check out a small Grist slideshow of photos taken by Gary Braasch in 2005.

Update [2007-6-12 13:1:43 by Chris Schults]: NPR also has a related piece about the islands of Fiji.

]]>http://grist.org/article/tuvalu-we-hardly-knew-you/feed/0FOX airs ‘The Day After Tomorrow’ after Murdoch’s green speechhttp://grist.org/article/the-week-after-the-announcement/?utm_source=syndication&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=feed_chrisschults
http://grist.org/article/the-week-after-the-announcement/#commentsSat, 19 May 2007 06:00:39 +0000http://www.grist.org/?p=17483Last night, about a week after Rupert Murdoch announced News Corp. is going green, FOX aired The Day After Tomorrow. I'm not sure this is the best start, but it is something, right? ]]>Last night, about a week after Rupert Murdoch announced News Corp. is going green, FOX aired The Day After Tomorrow. I’m not sure this is the best start, but it is something, right?]]>http://grist.org/article/the-week-after-the-announcement/feed/0Building the world’s largest eco-cityhttp://grist.org/article/integrated-urbanism-in-dongtan/?utm_source=syndication&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=feed_chrisschults
http://grist.org/article/integrated-urbanism-in-dongtan/#commentsSat, 28 Apr 2007 06:00:20 +0000http://www.grist.org/?p=17167The May 2007 issue of Wired Magazine has a piece about the development of the world's largest eco-city, Dongtan, underway on the outskirts of Shanghai (as we reported in May of last year). The article focuses on Alejandro Gutierrez and his team from Arup (project info here).

]]>The May 2007 issue of Wired Magazine has a piece about the development of the world’s largest eco-city, Dongtan, underway on the outskirts of Shanghai (as we reported in May of last year). The article focuses on Alejandro Gutierrez and his team from Arup (project info here).

]]>http://grist.org/article/integrated-urbanism-in-dongtan/feed/0Google’s Earth Day logohttp://grist.org/article/googles-earth-day-logo/?utm_source=syndication&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=feed_chrisschults
http://grist.org/article/googles-earth-day-logo/#commentsMon, 23 Apr 2007 11:41:50 +0000http://www.grist.org/?p=17067]]>]]>http://grist.org/article/googles-earth-day-logo/feed/0Amazon encourages its customers to buy greenhttp://grist.org/article/celebrating-earth-day-through-consumption/?utm_source=syndication&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=feed_chrisschults
http://grist.org/article/celebrating-earth-day-through-consumption/#commentsSat, 21 Apr 2007 12:27:32 +0000http://www.grist.org/?p=17054Ah, Earth Day. What could be a better way to celebrate our planet than buying more stuff and then having it shipped halfway across the country?

Regardless of what you may think of the online behemoth, Amazon.com should get some credit for prominently promoting its Earth Day store on its home page for the last week. And if their customers are going to buy things, it might as well be green things, right?

]]>Ah, Earth Day. What could be a better way to celebrate our planet than buying more stuff and then having it shipped halfway across the country?

Regardless of what you may think of the online behemoth, Amazon.com should get some credit for prominently promoting its Earth Day store on its home page for the last week. And if their customers are going to buy things, it might as well be green things, right?

As reported by KING5.com (video), more than 1,000 people took part in Step It Up Seattle, which began at Occidental Park in downtown Seattle and ended in Myrtle Edwards Park where a rally and solutions fair commenced. Many Grist staff members were present, and took pictures and chatted with local Grist readers. My job was to record brief audio interviews with some of the participants. Early in the week, we plan to share these photos and recordings with you.

For now, here is just a taste of the day's events, the unedited audio recordings (Windows Media) of the rally's speakers:

As reported by KING5.com (video), more than 1,000 people took part in Step It Up Seattle, which began at Occidental Park in downtown Seattle and ended in Myrtle Edwards Park where a rally and solutions fair commenced. Many Grist staff members were present, and took pictures and chatted with local Grist readers. My job was to record brief audio interviews with some of the participants. Early in the week, we plan to share these photos and recordings with you.

For now, here is just a taste of the day’s events, the unedited audio recordings (Windows Media) of the rally’s speakers:

]]>http://grist.org/article/step-it-up-seattle/feed/0Stepping it Up in SeattleJay Inslee, Greg Nickels, Ron SimsIn Second Lifehttp://grist.org/article/global-warming-floods-london/?utm_source=syndication&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=feed_chrisschults
http://grist.org/article/global-warming-floods-london/#commentsTue, 10 Apr 2007 05:44:05 +0000http://www.grist.org/?p=16851How did Grist miss this one last week, as reported by National Geographic News?

Tokyo, Amsterdam, and the entire Mediterranean island of Ibiza were inundated with floodwaters today due to rising sea levels brought on by global warming.

Tokyo, Amsterdam, and the entire Mediterranean island of Ibiza were inundated with floodwaters today due to rising sea levels brought on by global warming.

Oh:

Or at least, that would have been the headline if events in the virtual world Second Life mirrored reality.

A rolling flood temporarily swamped several areas of the online world as part of a campaign to illustrate the potential environmental and financial impacts of climate change.

“Our message was, ‘You may have a second life, but [you still need to] offset your second life in real life,'” said David de Rothschild, a London-based environmentalist and adventurer whose nonprofit Adventure Ecology helped stage today’s flood.

]]>http://grist.org/article/global-warming-floods-london/feed/0Wired reports on undersea mining planshttp://grist.org/article/if-there-is-a-mine-at-the-bottom-of-the-ocean-and-no-one-is-there-to-see-it/?utm_source=syndication&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=feed_chrisschults
http://grist.org/article/if-there-is-a-mine-at-the-bottom-of-the-ocean-and-no-one-is-there-to-see-it/#commentsSat, 17 Mar 2007 05:44:35 +0000http://www.grist.org/?p=16513Speaking of mining and threats to marine life, Wired is reporting that there is the potential for a huge undersea gold rush and very few environmental groups seem concerned: ]]>Speaking of mining and threats to marine life, Wired is reporting that there is the potential for a huge undersea gold rush and very few environmental groups seem concerned:

Rod Fujita can’t disguise his frustration. “David Heydon and Nautilus are about to make the same mistake made during the development of every other industry in history.” says Fujita, a senior scientist for Environmental Defense. “We’re letting him rush into this without studying the impacts. That was forgivable 100 years ago. It’s not now.”

Fujita has tried to alert the world to Heydon’s plans. He has called the Nature Conservancy and Greenpeace to warn them, but they showed little interest. “It hasn’t been in the news, and the mining happens where no one can see it, so maybe they don’t think it’s for real,” Fujita says. “But if it’s going to be regulated, we’ve got to set those regulations in place before they start mining, which means now.”

Fujita’s main concern is that the marine environment surrounding extinct black smokers is not well understood. Active smokers have been closely studied, and Nautilus agrees that their ecosystems are too rare to be mined (and the corrosive effluent makes them more challenging anyway). But the long line of extinct smokers stretching away from active vents has barely been investigated by scientists. Researchers don’t know what species are down there, much less how mining might affect them. “This has the potential to be more environmentally destructive than terrestrial mining,” Fujita says. He explains that giant clouds of silt could be carried across the ocean, a kind of under-water acid rain that wipes out life as it goes. “I like to call it oceanic smog,” says David Helvarg, one of the few other environmentalists tracking the issue. “It could take up to 40 years for the sediment to settle.”

Heydon has a ready answer. “The environmentalists think that we’re running out of ore on land, so now we’re going to rape and pillage the sea,” Heydon says. “It’s just a reaction — it’s not thought through.”

]]>http://grist.org/article/if-there-is-a-mine-at-the-bottom-of-the-ocean-and-no-one-is-there-to-see-it/feed/0And I’m not talking about the Green Lantern or Green Arrowhttp://grist.org/article/a-green-superhero/?utm_source=syndication&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=feed_chrisschults
http://grist.org/article/a-green-superhero/#commentsFri, 09 Mar 2007 01:31:39 +0000http://www.grist.org/?p=16379By all rights, being the science-fiction-loving computer geek that I am, I should be a comics fan. But I'm not, and need not be to know that CaptainAmericais ... [spoiler alert!] ... dead.

Captain America, a Marvel Entertainment superhero, is fatally shot by a sniper in the 25th issue of his eponymous comic, which arrived in stores yesterday. The assassination ends the sentinel of liberty's fight for right, which began in 1941.

And that fight for liberty was most recently told in Civil War, which my friend Matt (an actual comics fan) writes about on his blog:

]]>By all rights, being the science-fiction-loving computer geek that I am, I should be a comics fan. But I’m not, and need not be to know that CaptainAmericais … [spoiler alert!] … dead.

Captain America, a Marvel Entertainment superhero, is fatally shot by a sniper in the 25th issue of his eponymous comic, which arrived in stores yesterday. The assassination ends the sentinel of liberty’s fight for right, which began in 1941.

And that fight for liberty was most recently told in Civil War, which my friend Matt (an actual comics fan) writes about on his blog:

My affinity for Cap was re-energized when Marvel launched its Civil War storyline last year, with its thinly veiled reflections of both McCarthyism and the post-9/11 erosion of civil liberties. When I first heard the Marvel heroes were going to become polarized by the enactment of a “Superhero Registration Act,” I figured Captain America would be first in line to take the loyalty oath. After all, he’s the uber-patriot, the ever-faithful Nazi-bashing champion of American Values. He actually wears the American flag as his costume, for crying out loud.

Nope. Instead, Cap became Marvel’s leading champion of privacy rights and civil liberties, and the outlaw leader of the anti-Registration faction of heroes, squaring off against that fascist bastard Iron Man. Because he’s really an FDR-era patriot, not a W-era jingoist.

As I read this and pondered the death of Cap and what he stood for, I wondered if he has an equivalent when it comes to defending the environment? And if it not, isn’t it time for one?

]]>http://grist.org/article/a-green-superhero/feed/0Did your pick win?http://grist.org/article/the-2007-global-warming-globie-award-winners/?utm_source=syndication&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=feed_chrisschults
http://grist.org/article/the-2007-global-warming-globie-award-winners/#commentsSat, 24 Feb 2007 05:28:05 +0000http://www.grist.org/?p=16193With over 20,000 people participating, the votes have been cast for the 2007 Global Warming Globie Awards. And the winners are:

They've migrated to Flash-based videos that can be browsed by category, tag or both, as well as speaker. And as I originally wrote, their speaker list is quite impressive.

I'm still not a fan of the talking head video approach (I need more visual stimuli), but their new site is clean and well organized. Check it out.

]]>Big Picture TV, whose tagline is “talking heads, talking sense,” has relaunched its website with a significantly improved design and a nicely implemented tag system (coming soon to a Grist page near you!).

They’ve migrated to Flash-based videos that can be browsed by category, tag or both, as well as speaker. And as I originally wrote, their speaker list is quite impressive.

I’m still not a fan of the talking head video approach (I need more visual stimuli), but their new site is clean and well organized. Check it out.

]]>http://grist.org/article/big-picture-tv-revamped/feed/0Do you pod here often?http://grist.org/article/do-you-pod-here-often/?utm_source=syndication&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=feed_chrisschults
http://grist.org/article/do-you-pod-here-often/#commentsWed, 29 Nov 2006 06:02:26 +0000http://www.grist.org/?p=15032Speaking of incremental improvements, Grist will be launching a weekly podcast shortly. Before we officially roll it out to the entire Grist audience, I'm hoping you Gristmillians could take a listen and provide some feedback. Specifically, we'd like to make sure that the RSS feed is working, the podcasts are downloading and playing fine, and the sound quality is good.

If you're an iTunes user, click here to find our weekly podcast in the iTunes store. If you'd prefer to use another RSS reader or podcatcher, use this:

]]>Speaking of incremental improvements, Grist will be launching a weekly podcast shortly. Before we officially roll it out to the entire Grist audience, I’m hoping you Gristmillians could take a listen and provide some feedback. Specifically, we’d like to make sure that the RSS feed is working, the podcasts are downloading and playing fine, and the sound quality is good.

If you’re an iTunes user, click here to find our weekly podcast in the iTunes store. If you’d prefer to use another RSS reader or podcatcher, use this:

]]>http://grist.org/article/do-you-pod-here-often/feed/033 writers. 5 designers. 6-word science fictionhttp://grist.org/article/very-short-stories/?utm_source=syndication&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=feed_chrisschults
http://grist.org/article/very-short-stories/#commentsThu, 16 Nov 2006 06:26:56 +0000http://www.grist.org/?p=14884I was reading the November issue of Wired this morning on the bus and read this clever series of 6-word science fiction stories. I thought you'd enjoy these: ]]>I was reading the November issue of Wired this morning on the bus and read this clever series of 6-word science fiction stories. I thought you’d enjoy these:

INDIA’S highest court yesterday demanded that Coca-Cola should reveal its secret formula for the first time in 120 years.

Why?

The Supreme Court ordered the US soft drinks maker, along with its rival PepsiCo, to supply details of the chemical composition and ingredients of their products after a study released this week claimed that they contained unacceptable levels of insecticides. [emphasis added]

…

The court order followed the release of a report by the Centre for Science and Environment, a non-government body, which contended that 11 brands sold by the two soft drinks makers contained high levels of pesticide residues. The organisation said that samples from 12 states showed that Pepsi products contained 30 times more pesticides than in 2003, when a similar study was conducted. Coke samples had 25 times the amount of pesticides as three years ago.

And you were worried about high fructose corn syrup!

This you just gotta love:

Coca-Cola’s original recipe, according to company policy, is kept in a bank vault in Atlanta where only two executives — banned from travelling on the same aircraft — know it.

But have no fear! According to Wired, Coke will actually be good for you in the future.

]]>http://grist.org/article/id-like-to-buy-the-world-a-coke-er-maybe-not/feed/0Poll: Do you trust Wal-Mart?http://grist.org/article/poll-do-you-trust-wal-mart/?utm_source=syndication&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=feed_chrisschults
http://grist.org/article/poll-do-you-trust-wal-mart/#commentsSat, 12 Aug 2006 01:42:00 +0000http://www.grist.org/?p=13768According to these comments and the letters to the editor, there seems to be a bunch of you who don't believe Wal-Mart is actually going to implement their sustainabilityplans. I think it is time for a Friday poll! (Vote below the fold.)]]>According to these comments and the letters to the editor, there seems to be a bunch of you who don’t believe Wal-Mart is actually going to implement their sustainabilityplans. I think it is time for a Friday poll!

Sorry, the poll you are seeking no longer exists. If you’re in a voting mood, suggest a poll and you might just see it on the site.

]]>http://grist.org/article/poll-do-you-trust-wal-mart/feed/0Tim Flannery on Big Picture TVhttp://grist.org/article/tim-flannery-on-big-picture-tv/?utm_source=syndication&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=feed_chrisschults
http://grist.org/article/tim-flannery-on-big-picture-tv/#commentsSat, 12 Aug 2006 00:26:33 +0000http://www.grist.org/?p=13766I don't know how they do it, but Big Picture TV has added author and Australian scientist Tim Flannery to their impressive list of talking heads. Tim Flannery wrote The Weather Makers: How Man Is Changing the Climate and What It Means For Life on Earth which was reviewed by Grist back in March.

]]>I don’t know how they do it, but Big Picture TV has added author and Australian scientist Tim Flannery to their impressive list of talking heads. Tim Flannery wrote The Weather Makers: How Man Is Changing the Climate and What It Means For Life on Earth which was reviewed by Grist back in March.

]]>http://grist.org/article/print-it-email-it-digg-it-bookmark-it-reddit-technologic/feed/0Create your own PSAhttp://grist.org/article/sb-flix-contest/?utm_source=syndication&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=feed_chrisschults
http://grist.org/article/sb-flix-contest/#commentsFri, 04 Aug 2006 02:47:50 +0000http://www.grist.org/?p=13666Our friends over at Shifting Baselines have launched a new website and video contest where you can create and submit your own PSA:

The contest comes at a time when more than ninety percent of large fish in the oceans are being consumed, coral reefs around the world are dying due to coral bleaching, and large lifeless regions called "dead zones" are expanding each year. The problem of ocean decline has reached global crisis stage. Shifting Baselines' objective is to create solutions by having more effective "communication" to inform people about the problems and the goal of the contest is to give young creative filmmakers the opportunity to relay the message through creative outlets in filmmaking.

The videos will be reviewed by a host of celebrity judges. Read the full press release for more information:

]]>Our friends over at Shifting Baselines have launched a new website and video contest where you can create and submit your own PSA:

The contest comes at a time when more than ninety percent of large fish in the oceans are being consumed, coral reefs around the world are dying due to coral bleaching, and large lifeless regions called “dead zones” are expanding each year. The problem of ocean decline has reached global crisis stage. Shifting Baselines’ objective is to create solutions by having more effective “communication” to inform people about the problems and the goal of the contest is to give young creative filmmakers the opportunity to relay the message through creative outlets in filmmaking.

The videos will be reviewed by a host of celebrity judges. Read the full press release for more information:

Los Angeles, CA (August 2, 2006)– The Shifting Baselines Ocean Media Project, a partnership between ocean conservation and Hollywood, announced today the start of its SB FLIX CONTEST: offering aspiring filmmakers the opportunity to showcase their work by creating Public Service Announcements to help save the oceans.

The PSAs will be viewed by celebrity judges that will include actors ZOOEY DESCHANEL (“Failure to Launch”), GREGORY ITZIN (“24″), WENDY MCCLENDON (“Reno 911″), TIMOTHY OLYPHANT (“Deadwood”), MICHAEL RAPPAPORT (“Boston Public”), and RAINN WILSON (“The Office”) among others. The judges will pick the best entries and select the finalist whose videos will run on the Shifting Baselines website and two-dozen other partner sites including founders The Ocean Conservancy, Scripps Institution of Oceanography, Surfrider Foundation, and supporting partners World Wildlife Fund, Conservation International, Oceana, NRDC, Heal the Bay, Wyland Foundation, Project Aware, and Environmental Defense.

The contest comes at a time when more than ninety percent of large fish in the oceans are being consumed, coral reefs around the world are dying due to coral bleaching, and large lifeless regions called “dead zones” are expanding each year. The problem of ocean decline has reached global crisis stage. Shifting Baselines’ objective is to create solutions by having more effective “communication” to inform people about the problems and the goal of the contest is to give young creative filmmakers the opportunity to relay the message through creative outlets in filmmaking.

“We’re really aiming for high school and college kids in particular,” says contest director Tyler Carlisle. “Over the past year there’s been an explosion of ‘viral videos’ on the internet, from youtube.com to firefox.com. This is a way to channel some of that youthful energy into an important topic — the fate of our oceans.”

Shifting Baselines has previously produced television commercials and short films featuring such comic talent as Jack Black, Dustin Hoffman, Ben Stiller, Henry Winkler, Tom Arnold and the Groundlings Improv Comedy Theater. The project began in 2003 and has produced serious Flash pieces on ocean decline including, “Shifting Baselines in the Surf,” featuring the photographs of some of the world’s top surf photographers with music from Jack Johnson.

“We’ve broken new ground over the past three years,” says Shifting Baselines’ co-founder Dr. Randy Olson, who recently directed the feature documentary, “Flock of Dodos: The Evolution-Intelligent Design Circus.” “Now it’s time to tap the energy and vigor of all these creative kids on the internet.”

]]>http://grist.org/article/sb-flix-contest/feed/0Media Shower: Game on!http://grist.org/article/media-shower-game-on/?utm_source=syndication&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=feed_chrisschults
http://grist.org/article/media-shower-game-on/#commentsThu, 27 Jul 2006 01:42:09 +0000http://www.grist.org/?p=13547I don't know if anyone else pays attention to the Google ads in Gristmill, but I just clicked on an ad for the game Xeko Mission: Madagascar and, wow, it sounds really cool! I'm all for creative ways of educating the public and this seems like a great way for families to learn about ecosystems.

]]>I don’t know if anyone else pays attention to the Google ads in Gristmill, but I just clicked on an ad for the game Xeko Mission: Madagascar and, wow, it sounds really cool! I’m all for creative ways of educating the public and this seems like a great way for families to learn about ecosystems.

Video games have long entertained users by immersing them in fantasy worlds full of dragons or spaceships. But Peacemaker is part of a new generation: games that immerse people in the real world, full of real-time political crises. And the games’ designers aren’t just selling a voyeuristic thrill. Games, they argue, can be more than just mindless fun, they can be a medium for change.

The proposition may strike some as dubious, but the “serious games” movement has some serious brain power behind it. It is a partnership between advocates and nonprofit groups that are searching for new ways to reach young people, and tech-savvy academics keen to explore video games’ educational potential.

As I’ve mentioned before, I’d like to see a quality video game address an environmental issue, particularly climate change. And I’m not the only one. Paul Loeb writing over at The Huffington Post blog:

Someone should make a video game of The Inconvenient Truth. The generation of most game-players will inherit global warming’s escalating march, and many won’t see any documentary, even an excellent one. Inconvenient Truth is, after all, a lecture and slide show, mixed with a strong personal story, some nice Matt Groening animation, and more humor and hope than you’d expect from a film on the subject.

…

Given that we need to reach more people, how about an Inconvenient Video Game, a Sim World where players learn about the issues surrounding global warming, choose paths of action to address it, and link to real-world external websites? The goal would be to navigate America (and help navigate the planet) through what it will take to emerge without disaster. Players could research the facts, make good or bad choices, and see the consequences of various actions taken. The game could even include some modeling of political advocacy, so players could take the role of ordinary citizens, since our efforts will ultimately decide whether America ever does really addresses one of the most complex and urgent crises in human history.

Sundance founder, Robert Redford announced today that Sundance Channel will launch SUNDANCE CHANNEL GREEN, a weekly primetime destination block focusing on environmental topics, in early 2007. Consisting of three hours of hosted programming, SUNDANCE CHANNEL GREEN will present original series and documentary premieres about the earth's ecology and concepts of "green" living that balance human needs with responsible environmental stewardship. With SUNDANCE CHANNEL GREEN, Sundance Channel becomes the first television network in the United States to establish a significant, regularly-scheduled programming destination dedicated entirely to the environment.

Cool! More below the fold:

]]>This just in:

Sundance founder, Robert Redford announced today that Sundance Channel will launch SUNDANCE CHANNEL GREEN, a weekly primetime destination block focusing on environmental topics, in early 2007. Consisting of three hours of hosted programming, SUNDANCE CHANNEL GREEN will present original series and documentary premieres about the earth’s ecology and concepts of “green” living that balance human needs with responsible environmental stewardship. With SUNDANCE CHANNEL GREEN, Sundance Channel becomes the first television network in the United States to establish a significant, regularly-scheduled programming destination dedicated entirely to the environment.

Cool! More below the fold:

SUNDANCE CHANNEL GREEN will consist of the following program elements:

1. Original Series: Change Agents: a high energy, story and character-driven documentary series about the people and projects that are on the front lines of environmental sustainability and innovation.

2. Interstitial Series: Sundance Channel will launch several interstitial series that will highlight a range of environmental issues and offer viewers innovative suggestions to effect change in their own lives.

MOUNT ALBION - University of Colorado biologists began installing an alarm system atop this craggy summit Friday, near the Continental Divide west of Boulder.

Like the alarm systems in your car or home, this one is designed to detect intruders.

But in this case, the invaders are tundra plants moving up from lower elevations in response to global warming. The alarm system is a cluster of mountaintop vegetation plots that will be monitored periodically for decades to come.

MOUNT ALBION – University of Colorado biologists began installing an alarm system atop this craggy summit Friday, near the Continental Divide west of Boulder.

Like the alarm systems in your car or home, this one is designed to detect intruders.

But in this case, the invaders are tundra plants moving up from lower elevations in response to global warming. The alarm system is a cluster of mountaintop vegetation plots that will be monitored periodically for decades to come.

]]>http://grist.org/article/funny1/feed/0Help wanted: Web geek and word wormhttp://grist.org/article/help-wanted-web-geek-and-word-worm/?utm_source=syndication&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=feed_chrisschults
http://grist.org/article/help-wanted-web-geek-and-word-worm/#commentsSat, 15 Jul 2006 04:09:04 +0000http://www.grist.org/?p=13424Hey Gristmillers. In case you haven't heard, Grist's editorial and production teams are each seeking an intern to work in our lovely new office.

So, if you possess some HTML and Photoshop skills, or are a fact-checker extraordinaire, and want to work with some of the coolest people in Seattle, check these internships out.

]]>Hey Gristmillers. In case you haven’t heard, Grist‘s editorial and production teams are each seeking an intern to work in our lovely new office.

So, if you possess some HTML and Photoshop skills, or are a fact-checker extraordinaire, and want to work with some of the coolest people in Seattle, check these internships out.